Monday

It was a warm day on Monday.  We spent the morning completing school and after Benjamin woke up from his nap and the older kids had lunch we headed out for a walk/bike ride.  Ellie was so excited because saw two cats on our walk!  She said "I found a black kitty and an orange kitty. I found two kitties". (Recently she's been holding up both hands with all her fingers together saying "one, two").

When we got back we home Will and James helped me put together my new steam mop and mopped the kitchen floor for me.  They did a great job!

Tuesday

On Tuesday we took off from school and I finally finished cleaning/organizing the toy closet!  I started this on Saturday so I'm happy that it is finally completed and I'm so happy with how it turned out!!

Will and James played in their room most of the day and Ellie and Benjamin hung out with me 

Things I'm Grateful for today

• Ellie, Will and James slept in until 7:45
• Ellie and I got to spend some one on one time playing memory her favorite game.  She is very enthusiastic when I get a match "You did it Mommy, those match!"  

The boys have been saving money from doing chores around the house and starting talking about how much money they had on Tuesday night.  During school on Wednesday the boys brought out their piggy banks and we emptied them out and I had the boys sort the coins into different piles and then we discussed how many quarters, dimes and nickels are needed to make a dollar.  After school the boys decided they wanted to spend some of their money.  They chose to purchase a new Lego kit. They chose the same space kits.  

I was a little disappointed that they didn't get the experience of going to the store, choosing what they want and handing over their money to the cashier.  But instead we ordered the Lego kits from Target to be picked up using drive up and they gave their money to me. 

After I ordered the Legos the boys asked me literally every five minutes if they were ready to be picked up.  I eventually took them out on a walk/bike ride to distract them. When we got home it was time to go to Target.  The boys were so excited and when we got home they immediately put together their new space shuttles.

Thursday

Thursday was a quiet day at home.  We had breakfast in the morning and then I read the kids some stories.  Ellie has been on a kick of wanting to do puzzles and she tries so hard to do them but they stump her.  I give it to her though she does not give up.  She will try and try through her frustration (crying with tears and snot running down her face, poor Ellie Bellie). I am impressed with her spirit.  With a little help she can complete a 12 piece puzzle, I don't think it'll be that long before she can do them without so much frustration.  Another thing Ellie has been into recently is playing her memory game.  James Ellie and I played a round of memory while William watched before going out on a walk/bike ride.  (The sun was shining and my shoulders got sunburned, my skin clearly doesn't see the sun very often I'm so pasty).

Friday

Benjamin woke up in a great mood on Friday and started using a /d/ sound saying "dada dada". He was so proud of himself!  

While Benjamin was napping I tried to make our school activity fun for the kids and I filled Easter eggs with alphabet puzzle pieces and then the kids had to find an egg tell me the name of the letter and the letter sound.  When Benjamin got up we drove to pick up some stuff from Target that I had ordered.  Will and James have been enjoying doing hidden picture puzzles in their highlights workbooks so I ordered some new hidden picture books.  The boys each completed a few puzzles before we went out for a walk/bike ride.  When we got home the wind was blowing so we flew our kite for a little bit before heading back inside for more hidden picture puzzles.  

Saturday

Benjamin just thinks 6:00am is a great time to start his day and so he was up at 6:00 and played in the pack n play until 6:30 thankfully and after that he hung out in bed next to me until about 7:00 and thats when our day started.  The positive of starting my day that early is I was fully awake when my sister called so I got to have a nice long chat with her while the other kids were still in their rooms!

After breakfast and the boys completing their chore of emptying the dishwasher we went outside to play while Benjamin took his nap.  While we were out their we saw a hawk in one of our trees and watched some crows and squirrels.  The kids love watching all the wild life (Ellie said "oh look it eating the grass!  That my favorite!" talking about a squirrel). We had a picnic lunch outside and then just as we were going to go back inside a drive by parade came around.  There were police cars, vehicles that were decorated and a fire truck!  They threw the kids tiny stuffed animals with bandanas and hair ties with instructions on how to make masks with them (What strange times we're living in watching my kids playing with their new masks).

I took a trip to Costco to get a few things and picked up a few new books to read to the kids.  

While cleaning up a the end of the day I spotted a lizard that had found its way into our house.  After catching the lizard the boys took turn touching it and watching it stick out its tongue and talking to it.